URGENT! OUR FRIEND ANDY AT MAITLAND MOUNTAIN FARM NEEDS YOUR HELP TODAY!!
Our family and friends adore Maitland Mountain Farm pickles and condiments. If you’ve ever sampled any one of their scrumptious veggie products, you know that their pickling recipes are simply beyond compare. We purchase a bunch several times a month from Common Crow. Please read the following note from Andy and send emails to the city officials listed below. A sample email is provided. I just did it and it took all of five minutes. In the subject line I wrote, ‘We Love Maitland Mountain Farms.’ Better yet, go to the meeting tonight if you can and show your support. Thank you!
Dear Farm Friends:
We write today to ask for your help. In fact, we need your help. Many of you know us because you’ve met us at local Farmers’ Markets. Others may have seen our products (like Holly’s Spicy Pickles) in stores or on restaurant menus. But today, the future of our farm, Salem’s only commercial agricultural operation, is in peril. The City has thrown up a roadblock to our continued operation. Without so much as visiting us, the building department has decided that our primary use is NOT agriculture. The state says that as long as we earn $1000 per acre, we meet the requirement. We earn more than that. But some of our municipal officials don’t want to budge on their determination. We don’t know what this means for our future.
There is a public meeting Wednesday January 17 at 6:30pm and we need you to come and show your support. If you can’t make it, PLEASE email the Beth Rennard, Thomas St. Pierre, the City Clerk, and the Mayor to tell them that you value having farmers in your community. Emails are below. Please ask them to work with us rather than against us. We love farming and we love Salem. We want to continue doing what we love in the city that we love. The primary use of our farm IS agricultural. Most farmers live on farms; we are no exception. That’s what we need the city to understand. Thank you for your support.
Emails:
brennard@salem.com
tstpierre@salem.com
mayor@salem.com
clapointe@salem.com
citycouncilors@salem.com
Meeting: Wednesday January 17 at 6:30pm, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 93 Washington Street.
Sample email (feel free to adapt)
To Whom It May Concern:
The City of Salem is wonderfully diverse in many ways. One aspect of that diversity is the use of land for agriculture. Not many cities, or suburbs for that matter, can claim to be home to a working farm. Salem can make that claim because of Maitland Mountain Farm. I place a very high value on living in a city that knows the immense importance of agriculture not only as a tool for teaching our children about where their food comes from but also for actually producing the food that we eat. I enjoy seeing Maitland Mountain Farms at our Farmer’s Market and seeing their products on Salem’s restaurants’ menus. They are an integral part of what makes this city unique. Please reconsider your position that the primary use of their farmland is anything other than agriculture. Thank you.
Sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS
Creative Salem
OctoCog
North Shore Wine and Dine Page
Salem Main Streets
Root
Salem Food Tours
Salem Food Digest
The Salem News
The North Shore Sea Lion
Salem Farmers’ Market
Salem No Place for Hate Committee
Kim Driscoll
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